Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has responded to a broadside from a member of the Israeli Government, saying that “they’re entitled to their view, we’re entitled to ours”.
The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, Sharren Haskel, on Thursday morning issued a missive on social media saying Luxon wouldn’t comprehend the “challenges that come with facing Hamas”.
In a post on X responding to Luxon telling the Herald yesterday that Netanyahu has “lost the plot”, Haskel was dismissive of the New Zealand Prime Minister’s concerns.
“I guess when you don’t really need an army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat you wouldn’t comprehend the challenges that come with facing Hamas – a jihadist death cult – only a few kms away from your country, that rape, execute, burn alive, and starve your people.”
I guess when you don’t really need an army because your most deadly enemy is a possum or a cat, you wouldn’t comprehend the challenges that come with facing Hamas - a jihadist death cult - only a few kms away from your country, that rape, execute, burn alive and starve your… https://t.co/BECZ1BOxe1
— Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) August 13, 2025
She also posted on X after Australia this week said it would recognise the Palestinian state. She said such a move rewarded the October 7 massacre and was a “profound moral failure”.
The Herald contacted the Israeli Embassy in Wellington for comment on Luxon’s remarks, but it referred back to Haskel’s post.
On Thursday, Luxon disputed that he played down the horrors of the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, saying that when he speaks on the issue, “the first thing out of my mouth is the abhorrence of what we saw on October 7″.
But he said he follows these remarks by saying he expects Israel to provide “unfettered” humanitarian aid and support.
“We expect Israel to comply and make sure they’re protecting civilians as well. Go back and look at the record of my consistency in my statements.”
He said he was the Prime Minister who designated the entirety of Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
“It’s one of the first things I did,” he said, speaking of his February 2024 decision a couple of months after forming the Government.
There appeared to be some reluctance from government partners to explicitly say they agreed with the Prime Minister’s language.
Act’s deputy leader, Brooke van Velden, said Luxon can “speak for himself” and said she referred to Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters on these issues.
“I think really what’s happening in that area of the world is a humanitarian crisis, and it’s deeply saddening and disturbing,” she said.
“But I think it’s really important for us as a Government to be rational, to also express the emotion of the people that we are hearing from, which is a lot of hurt and sadness.”
She said the Government’s policy should be “something all three parties can feel comfortable with”.
Asked if the Prime Minister was being “rational” with his language, van Velden again said she felt he was “speaking for himself and possibly for that hurt that a lot of people in the community are feeling”.
NZ First’s Shane Jones said it was for Peters to comment on this “sensitive” issue. He wouldn’t say if he had a personal view.
Neither Peters nor Act’s David Seymour would on Wednesday say if they supported the Prime Minister’s description without hearing the remarks themselves.
National’s Chris Bishop, however, said he did believe Netanyahu has “lost the plot”.
“Israel has gone too far when it comes to what they’re doing in Gaza right now,” Bishop said.
“We all want to see a two-state solution, and at the moment that has been put at risk by the actions of Netanyahu.”
National MP Tim Costley, appearing on Newstalk ZB this morning, wasn’t so clear.
“They are the words the Prime Minister chose to use ... it’s just not language I’d use,” he said.
“What they are doing on the border, that humanitarian crisis is wrong, fighting needs to stop on both sides. It’s not the phrase. The PM’s the boss man, he can choose the language he wants to use.”
On Wednesday, Luxon said what was happening in Gaza was “utterly, utterly appalling”.
“I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot. What we are seeing overnight, the attack on Gaza City, is utterly, utterly unacceptable.”
Luxon said the Israeli Prime Minister is “not listening to the international community”.
When he was pressed on the gravity of saying another leader had lost the plot, Luxon said: “I am telling you what my personal view is.
“As a human being, looking at the situation, that is how I feel about it.”
Labour leader Chris Hipkins echoed comments from former Prime Minister Helen Clark in calling the situation an “unfolding genocide”. He said he supported Luxon’s comments.
On Monday, the Government announced it would formally weigh up New Zealand’s position on the recognition of Palestine over the next month.
The New Zealand Jewish Council on Thursday morning said it was concerned the “Government may move to recognise a Palestinian state in the absence of a comprehensive peace agreement, and urges ministers to consider whether this would truly advance a peaceful and stable two-state outcome”.
“For decades, New Zealand Governments of all political stripes have understood that premature recognition risks undermining, rather than advancing, the peace process. Recognition has always been envisaged as the culmination of a negotiated settlement and not a substitute for one.”
The council said the only “viable and just resolution” to the conflict was a “negotiated two-state solution that results in a secure and recognised State of Israel alongside a peaceful and democratic State of Palestine”.
It welcomed the Government’s support “for the release of all Israeli hostages, the disarmament and removal from power of Hamas, and the normalisation of relations between Israel and the Palestinians”.
“These are vital steps. Recognising a Palestinian state without those conditions being met removes incentives for progress and does not explain what will happen if they are not achieved.”
According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu on Sunday rejected allegations of genocide, saying if Israel had wanted to commit genocide, “it would have taken exactly one afternoon”.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Jamie Ensor is a political reporter in the NZ Herald press gallery team based at Parliament. He was previously a TV reporter and digital producer in the Newshub press gallery office. In 2025, he was a finalist for Political Journalist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards.